


I Know How It Feels

by AerithFaremis



Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: F/M, Feelings Realization, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Forehead Kisses, Hugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:14:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25019866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AerithFaremis/pseuds/AerithFaremis
Summary: While Cloud is looking for Aerith at the Train Graveyard, he realizes the true reason hidden behind his fears of losing her.[Train Graveyard scene if Eligor had not appeared so soon]
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife
Comments: 2
Kudos: 49





	I Know How It Feels

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! Welcome to another Clerith fic of mine!! I am a simple woman, I watch tender Clerith scenes from the Remake and I want to write about them! ^^ 
> 
> P.S Thank you for reading my stories, it makes me so happy!! Feel free to leave a comment if you want, and I will happily read it! ^^

“Almost there! Come on!” said Tifa, as the three of them were closer to the grid door which linked the Train Graveyard with Sector 7. They were all exhausted after having fought with ghosts and spirits which lived at the place, and before they continue, they took a breath.

“Right” Cloud agreed. But suddenly, they felt a cold breeze surrounding them and the lights turned off. Tifa looked up at the sky in time to see how three little ghosts were flying down towards them and she jumped backwards to avoid them. Cloud mimicked her, but Aerith was caught off guard and the ghosts began to pull her strongly and she felt a terrible pain on her wrists.

“Cloud!” was everything Aerith could say, before she vanished in the air.

“Aerith!” he screamed back, trying to catch her, but it was too late. He fell down on the stone floor and hit his knees.

“What in the…” he said, standing up and looking around the place to see where the ghosts had taken Aerith, but she was nowhere to be seen.

“Where have they taken Aerith?” asked Tifa, worried. Her hands were trembling and she wanted to scream in fear, but she contained herself. She did not like that place at all and now, Aerith had been kidnapped by those annoying ghosts that had been chasing them since they have arrived at the graveyard.

“I don’t know.” he said, harsher than he actually wanted to sound. He knew that Tifa was scared and he did not want to be rude with his friend, but he was also tired of that place and its secrets, and he only wanted to find Aerith and make sure she was safe and sound. “I’ll look for her north, you go south, okay? Scream if you need help.”

“Okay” Tifa nodded, and she fought hard to put her fears aside and run down the Train Graveyard. Aerith needed their help now and she wanted to protect her.

Cloud looked Tifa as she run through the large graveyard, disappearing when she turned right one corner. He wanted to do the same, he wanted to run and find Aerith, but due to a reason unknown to him, he was just standing still, petrified. He could hear how his heart was beating painfully inside his chest, and the sound was rising to his ears. His breaths were becoming short and sharp.

Something in the back of his mind was screaming _“what if you don’t find her?_ ”. He closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to take off of his mind those thoughts. He clenched his fist, biting his lip, why was he feeling this way?

He started to run too, but his thoughts kept meandering through his mind.

Aerith was just his friend, a nice and gentle girl he had met just one or two days before, that was why he was worried about her and her safety.

 _“And…that’s all there is to it? Sure there isn’t something else going on?”_ he heard Tifa’s voice in his head, remembering the question that remained unanswered in the air. Aerith was just a friend to him, was that all? Why was he so scared now that she was not around and possibly in danger? Why had he felt like in heaven every time the flower girl touched his hand or smiled at him? Why had he thought he was seeing a vision, an angel when she appeared looking so _painfully_ beautiful in that red dress, or why had his heart skipped a beat when she hinted that she wanted to spend more time with him?

He _already_ knew the answer. But, maybe, Cloud Strife was brave enough to fight monsters of all sizes and colors, ghosts, spirits and even every Shin-Ra security officer that came on his way, but he was not _too_ brave to admit that he was falling in love with her, even more than he was able to imagine.

 _“You boys made a trade, a normal life, for power. You can’t have it both ways”_ Elmyra’s voice resonated in his head, her words dawning on him like a cold shower. _Of course_ , a life with Aerith was more than he could ever desired and even deserve, and maybe her mother was right about him, because now she was in danger and it was all _his_ fault. But Elmyra forgot something when she told him those words: he was her daughter’s bodyguard and he hadn’t been payed yet, so he had (and wanted) to stay close to Aerith and had that normal life, whether her mother liked it or not.

Unexpectedly, he heard a soft wobbly voice coming from somewhere on his left. He stopped and listened carefully, trying to decipher what that voice was saying:

“Come, get me! I’m…right here…” the voice weakened a bit when those words were pronounced.

“Aerith? Is that you?” Cloud asked. He was sure that voice was Aerith’s, he could recognize her peaceful tone in between thousands and thousands of voices. He run towards the place Aerith’s voice was coming from, and when he passed through an abandoned old trunk wagon, he saw her.

He immediately stopped running at the sight in front of his eyes.

Aerith was sitting down on the floor, her hands covering her eyes and her body vaguely shaking at the same pace of her sobs. She was crying inconsolably, with a sorrow Cloud had never seen before, let alone coming from a cheerful girl as Aerith.

The feeling growing inside his chest, between his lungs, was mysterious for him. He had a desperate need of stopping those tears from dropping of her eyes, to hold her in his arms and tell her that everything was okay, that she did not have to be scared, that he would fight against every fear and nightmare that could deprive her of being happy.

“Aerith” he called her. She removed her hands of her face quickly, trying to erase any trace of her tears, and smiled delicately.

“Cloud! You came for me, thank y…”

“You don’t have to do that.” he said, kneeling down in front of her. She looked at him, taken aback at his words. “I…saw you were crying. You don’t need to wipe your tears and act as if nothing is hurting you or scaring you.”

She sighed, looking down. This time, her smile was a bittersweet one. She felt Cloud’s hand on her cheek, caressing it so slowly and cautiously he thought she could vanish at his touch. He was nervous she would reject his touch but, instead, she closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of his long, warm hand against her skin.

“What’s wrong?” Cloud asked. He was still worried about her, although he could see she was in one piece, without any – at least, physically – wound. But he wanted to go further and know the reason behind her tears, to know what was going on inside her heart.

“It’s a long story, but now I feel happier, now that you are here and…”

“But I want to know. You always care for the people around you, why not let someone care for you this time?” he said, staring into her eyes.

Aerith saw how his eyes had a concern yet gentle glint and somehow, she felt encouraged to tell him what made her feel so sad. Something told her that Cloud would understand her better than anyone else in this world.

“When I was a child I…was left alone here. I was playing hide and seek with other children but they never came to get me. I was so sad at that moment…not because I was scared or something, but because I was feeling a huge loneliness. Somehow, to be alone here again reminded me of that cruel emotion...That’s why I began to cry. I’m sorry about t…”

Cloud was not thinking _consciously_ what he was doing when he took Aerith’s face in his hands. It was simply his feelings for the flower girl that were guiding him as he kissed her forehead gently, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs as he did so.

“Cloud…” she mumbled, feeling how his tenderness protected her. He avoided looking at her, feeling his cheeks flushing, and he put her head on his chest, hugging her tightly.

“I know how it feels to be _alone_ ” he whispered “but, hey, I am your bodyguard, right? You won’t ever feel alone again”.

Aerith smiled fondly against his chest, but before she could say anything, they heard a roaring noise near them and heavy horse steps resounding on the floor. Suddenly, a strange shadow was raising from behind the wagon.

“Aerith, come on, run!” said Cloud, lifting her off the ground and running together as he held her close, but the floor was terribly shaking under the weight of that shadowy creature, and they fell down. He covered her body, preventing the florist from hitting herself and some seconds after, they looked up, facing a giant rider and his ghostly horse.

 _“Eligor…”_ Aerith thought, opening her eyes widely when she recognized the creature. Cloud stood up, ready to fight it.

Then, Aerith felt a hand on her shoulder. Tifa was smiling at her with affection and kindness. The ruby – eyed girl was relieved and happy to have found her friend safe and sound.

“Hey, we found you!” Tifa said, smiling at her and holding out a hand. Aerith took it and stood up, with a warm – hearted expression on her face. She would never feel alone, now that Cloud and Tifa were by her side.

“I guess you did” she said, kindly squeezing her hand.

**Author's Note:**

> I really wish Eligor had attacked later. I think Cloud has a soft side with Aerith.
> 
> Edit:  
> https://twitter.com/FaremisAerith
> 
> Posting my fics in a Twitter account I’ve made :)


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